Automatic train-control system



- S. P. JOHNSON AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM Filed April 17, 1922 2 sheen-'sneer 1 Oct y s. P. .JOHNSON AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Avril 17, 1922 2 sneeze-sneer 2 Patented ct. 28, i924.

SAMUEL r. JOHNSON, or LoNeAcn-n, vvnsrv VIRGINIA.

AUTOMATIC 'riminboivrnot SYSTEM. Application area apra 17, i922. ysnaai No. 553,567.

To @ZZ whom t may concern.' f Similarreerence numerals refer to simi- Be it known that l, SAMUEL P. JOHNSON, lar parts throughout the drawings. a citizen of the United States of America, f its illustrated, l is a locomotive engine residing at Longacre, in the county of Fahavingany standard type otthrottle `:lever yette and State ol' lWest Virginia, have in- 2 adaptedV to beset by a latch 3 co-acting 60` vented certain new and useful Improvements with a segment 4. LAn air cylinder 5 receives in Automatic Train-Control Systems, of waste air through the hose 6a on branch pipe which the followingis a specification. `t, undercontrol of valve 7, from the trainv This invention relates to an automatic apline 8 of the air brake system. rlhe cylinder l0 pliance lor stopping railway trains which 5 is mounted in the bracket 9 on trunnions lO G5 operates in conjunction with a block signal so that it `can Voscillate! vertically about its to prevent the train` running into a block center, the bracket itself being adapted for when the signal is set to stop it. lateral adjustment so as to position the cyl- More particularly my present invention inde'i' properly for its piston rod ll to enrelates to the novel and el'lective appliances gage the throttle lever 2, this piston carry-y 70 on the locomotive itself which are controlled ing a longitudinally slotted yoke l2 in the by a track trip and when operated serve to slot l2a oiiwvhich engages a cross pin 13 on close the throttle on a locomotive. My apthe lvcl- `'llll Cylinder, 21S mOrc Clearly pliance is .also designed for a combined elec llllstl'atcdanfldescribed in'my priOr Patent tromagnetic and mechanical controlol such No. 1,345,599, is provided with a piston 14:, 75

character that in the event yoit `any defect a stuffing box 15, and an end cap 16 pr0-y arising' in the electric system, the appliance vided with a series of perforations for the will act instantly and automatically yto close escape of ail' When' the piston is moving in the (gngjne throttle, ill@ ClI'QCOH O the Cap 16. i

The track trip mechanism, which is in y The yOlc l2 Carries a Cross pin 18 Which 80.

part illustrated in my present application, yengages the ratchet latch controlling hand-` Aforms kthe subject matter oil an application' clasp 19 to trip the latch and yrelease the tiled of even date herewith, and is 'not lever, when air enters the cylinder 5` and claimed herein. forces -itspiston to the right, this release My present invention with the above obtaking place before the play inthe slot l2v 35 jects in View consists in the novel oombinahasbrought the yoke into positive engagetion and arrangement of parts which yare ment kwith the throttle lever to close it. They hereinafter morefully described, illustrated lliwlcl' 9. SflDtClGCl t0 any Suitable Vpart in the accompanying drawings, and more 1111511@ Cal) 0f the lOQODlOfVeparticularly pointed out in the appended The valve isoperatcdby'the mechanism 90 claims it being understood that changes'in WlllliWlll 110W be ClSCIlOGCl and WllCll form, arrangement, and relative position of comprises a 'cylinder 2O with a spring 2l parts may be made tov suit dilerent operatinside working between the leather piston ing conditions without departing from ,the head 22 and the perforated cylinder head 23a f l0 essential substance of vthis invention. f f and `tending to torce the piston rod 24 to 95 Referring now to the drawings which the right. A solenoid has its plunger 26 form apart of this speciication:-v connected by a rod 27 'to one end of a lonllig. l is a side elevation of a conventional gitudinally slotted link 28, the other end of locomotive equipped with my present invenwhich is connected to the piston rod 24. A tion, the track trip mechanism beingy parbolt 29 worksithrough this longitudinal slot 100 tially illustrated suliciently to show its co-` in the link 23 and through a vertical slot 30 operation with the locomotive appliances. in lever 31 which atan intermediate point is ig. 2 is an enlargeddetail View showing pivoted at 32 in a bracket V33 and which at the several features of the locomotive kap its lower end carries a segmental gear 34'.k f pliances detached but connected up. Which meshes with a segmental gear 35 fast 105 Fig. 3 is a detail cross-sectional .view Von the steniof the valve 7. The cylinder 2O through the spring motor for operating the is mounted by brackets 36 under the running valve in the branch pipe from the air brake board or on any convenient anchorage on the system which supplies the motor controlling locomotive and in like manner the solenoid the throttle lever. is attached to the running board 37 by bolts about its axis sufficiently and 39, or may be otherwise mounted in any ccnvenient manner on the locomotive. The solenoid is connected in a normally closed electric circuit 39 leading from batteries tO on one side and on the other side being connected by a wire 4l toa switch contact l2 mounted on and suitably insulated from any convenient support on the locomotive7 pret erably at the rear of' its driving wheel. The circuit is normally closed across the termif nais 42, i3 by the circuit breaker' lill, the current returning over Wire ila to the battery.

The circuit breaker is in the form of conducting plate carried bya ratchetl wheel Ll5 rotatable about a pivot le and having tast thereon a crank l?. rthis erank'bas an clongated slot i8 linv its-tree end which receives a Apin i9 by means of which the vertically depending trip rod 5G is pivotally connected thereto7 this rod being guided 'for vertical play between the guide plates el mounted on upper and lower upper members and ci the rear locomotive trame. At its lower end this rod has an offset 30?LL which overhangs the track trip .and ari-ies a roller 5st which is adapted toengage the track trip when elevated and tobe. raised thereby sufficiently to rotate the ratchet wheel l5 vmove the circuit brakes to open the circuit at the termi.- nals/l'', d3. rEhe trip-is operated by a con-` trol mechanism in the box 56, which is responsive to an electric make and break switch 57 that is in turn controlled by the position of the semaphorearm The wheel is 'provided with a series of ratchet teeth 59 .which are engaged by a spring-pressed vdetent GO mounted in allbracket @l secured to the trame member and provided with a coil spring 62 surrounding it between the arms of the yoke and pressing a stop collar 63 thereon against,the side oi the yoke adjacent to the ratchet Wheel. rllhe ratchet teeth are disposed'so as to be engaged by the detent when the circuit breaker ed is in closed circuit7 positiony and are adapted to permit the ratchet wheel 'to be rotated counter-clockwise. lThey serve by engaging the detent to prevent the ratchet wheel turning back to close the circuit until the detent is released by the engineer. llhe solenoid is typical oi any electro-magnet which. when its circuit isclosed7 is adapted vto hold the valve in closed position against the action oiA the spring il. rlhe cylinder Q() is provided with a valve @Ll adapted to throtfA tlethe exhaust ports in the right hand cylinder' head to regulate the speed of opera ticnof the spring-pressed plunger after the fashion of a dash-pot;

in operation, it vprevent the train entering a block, the track hip will be raised andan engine approach ing the blocl; and not respecting the stop sig- \nal will have his engine automatically the semaphore is set to linsistir/5;t

stopped in the following manner. rlphe trip will be struck by the roller 54. and, due to its convex sur'jace, `will raise the arm 5G, rock the ratchet wheel and move the circuit breaker el to open the circuit lll, 41a, the circuit breaker being latched in "open circuit p sition by the detent 60. The moment that the circuit is broken to the eleetro-magnet 25 it is cle-energized and the spring 2l at once acts to thrust the piston 22 to the right, carryii'ig with itthearm Sl'and, through gears 34C and 55, opening the valve 'lhespeed oi movement ci the piston is controlled by the rate of discharge oi air 'from the right handend orn its cylinder. fis the valve 7 opens, the waste y escaping through pipes 6 and 62 enters the lett hand end ot cylinders Sand acts on the v piston therein to thrust it to the right, this resulting in the cross pin 18 iirst tripping the ratchet trip and then the yoke engaging the lever pin i9 and'drawiug the throttle lever to closed position.

is a result, the train lis promptly brought to a .stop and it cannot be started until the engineer releases the detent GO, whereupon the weight of the arm will act on the releascdxratchet wheel to swing the circuit breaker le into engagement with the contact d2 and (i3, whereupon the electro-magnet is again energized and overcomes vthe tension of the spring 2l and forces the lever Bl'to'the lett, closing the valve 7 and restoring the air brake system to the control ot the engineer.

rlihough l. have .describedwith great ticularity the details ci the embodiment oi the invention herein showin it is notte be rconstrued that l am rlimited thereto, as changes in arrangement and substitution or" equivalents may be made by those skilled in the art without departing Yfrom Athe invew tion as Vdeined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by y'Letters atent, is

l. ln an automatic train stop, thev lcombination with an air brake system and a throttle` lever having an 'airmotor Iadapted to close it7k of automatic track. trip .controlled means to close the throttle lever, comprising 'a'branch pipe leading tromithe brake system to said lever motor, a normally closed valve in said pipe, and an opposed electro magnet andr spring operably connected to the said valve, a circuit comprising a source oi current and afcircuit breaker, tracktripI operated means to open said circuit and ipermitthe spring to open said valve and admit airienhausted 'from the air brake system to operate said motor'and close said throttle. 2. ln van automatic` train stop, the lcombination with an air brake system and a throttle lever havinganfair motor adapted to 'close it, .of automatic track trip controlled mea-ns to draw off air from the drain Cil pipe and use it to close the throttle lever, comprising a branch pipe leading from the air brake system to said lever motor, a normally closed valve in said pipe, and an opposed electro-magnetand spring operably connected t0 the said valve, a circuit comprising a source of current and a circuit breaker, said circuit being normally closed and said magnet being adapted to hold said valve normally closed against the resistance of said spring tending to open it, track trip operated means to open said circuit v and permit the spring to open said valve and admit air exhausted from the air brake system to operate said motor and close said throttle.

3. In an automatic train stop, the combination With an air brake system and a` throttle lever having; an air motor adapted to close it, of automatic track trip controlled means to draw off air from the drain pipe and use it to close said throttle lever, comprising a branch pipe leading from` the airk brake system to said air motor, a valve in said pipe, mechanism tooperate said valve, comprising opposed motors, `one being an electro-magnet and the other being a cylinder having its piston operable by a coiled compression spring, means to normally energize said magnet and thereby hold said valve closed, and trip controlled means to de-energize the magnet.

4:. In an automatic rtrain stop, the combination With an air brake system and a throttle lever having an air motor adapted to close it, of automatic trackk trip controlled means to close said throttle lever, comprising a branch pipe leading from the air brake system to said air motor, a valve in said mally energize said magnet ybination With an air pipe,m`echanism to operate said valve, comy prising opposed motors, one being an electromagnet andthe otherbeing a cylinder having its piston operable by a coiled compression spring, means to dash-pot the pistons f movements in yits cylinder, mea-ns to norl and thereby hold saidvalve closed, and trip controlled means to de-energize the magnet,

throttle lever, of a track trip controlled actuator, a ratchet member operable by said actuator, a circuit closer movable by said member to open circuit position when said actuator is operated, a spring-pressed detent adapted `to prevent the return of said ratchet member to its initial position, a branch pipe leading' from the air brake system, a throttle lever operating cylinder suppliedkby said branch pipe, a valve normally closing said branch pipe and opposed agencies tofcontrol said valve, one being a spring tending to open said valve and the other an electro-magnet tending to hold the valve closed, and an electric supply circuit for said magnet comprising a circuit breaker controlled by said ratchet member.

In testimony whereof, I, SAMUEL P. JOHN- soN, aiix my signature.

SAMUEL P.' JOHNSON. Witness WM. P. y MoINTosH.

l said` latter means comprising a ratchet member, a circuit breaker operable' by said member, and a detent brake system and a y 

